Advanced Capital invests into Pan Asian distressed asset specialist

Robert Tomei Advanced Capital, the leading European alternative investment specialist, headed up by innovative financier Robert Tomei, and award winning European hedge fund incubator, IMQubator, has announced a 50million joint seed investment into the new mCapital European & Asian Special Situations Fund.

Launched on 11 February 2011, the mCapital fund offers a niche investment strategy with a focus on dynamic small to medium size special situations with a focus on distressed assets. The mCapital investment team is lead by Mark Devonshire, former head of Merrill Lynchs Hong Kong and London Principal Credit Group.

Devonshire brings together a topflight team; an entire investment team from Merrill Lynch in Europe and Asia who benefit from deep knowledge of local markets, as well as a management team who have worked together for over ten years. The funds operations are located in London, Hong Kong and Amsterdam.

Robert Tomei CEO of Advanced Capital, which is widely recognised as Italys top fund of funds with 1 billion Euros AUM, said: "It was key for Advanced Capitals growth to capitalise on the enormous value being created in major Asian markets. The region is a driving force for global economic growth and offers strong earnings potential. The investment in the mCapital fund with IMQubator was a strategic decision with the aim of boosting our international presence and opening the myriad opportunities that exist in the region to our client base."

Not only does the deal mark a strategic move for Advanced Capital into the vibrant Pan-Asian market but it also gives the Milan-based investment group access to a highly specialist and experienced investment team working directly on the ground in Asias leading fund management centre.

Tomei continued: "Fundamentally Hong Kong offers a crucial foothold to the booming Chinese market. Mark Devonshire and his experienced team of former Merrill Lynch professionals have worked together for over ten years. Their track record is simply very impressive, showing only positive returns and an annual performance since 2003 well above 20%. Were excited to be taking a stake in this highly specialised opportunity. Without a doubt, mCapital is the kind of manager that every institution would like to have in its portfolio."

"We are currently in the midst of a major expansion drive. This growth strategy will build on investments in new world-class fund managers, particularly in emerging sectors, but also concentrate on extensive new investment in our existing Energy and Global Real Estate funds," he concluded.

Jeroen Tielman, CEO of IMQ Investment Management, the manager of the IMQubator hedge fund seeding fund, commented: "We originally assisted mCapital in their design of a hybrid fund series structure combining hedge fund and private equity fund elements amongst others to align investor liquidity with the liquidity of the fund investments and to enhance transparency. The mCapital fund has the capacity to reach a total AUM well beyond the $1billion level."

With the latest fund commitment, Advanced Capital is firmly establishing itself as the investment manager to watch in the alternative investment space. It was recently ranked second globally out of 134 funds in Preqins recent private equity fund of funds annual performance analysis. Following its existing range of funds this latest investment marks the launch for Advanced Capitals new generation of global managers.